30 Day Prep

Although all of the rest of the sections align with each other between the SAT and ACT, the Science section stands out as a distinct section that is only present on the ACT. This section allows students to be tested on scientific concepts and methods, and is not optional if a student takes the ACT. This can be a huge consideration when students choose which exam they think they would perform more aptly on. The Science section can be difficult to work through, but the most effective way to be able to handle it is to follow the below strategies.

1) Basic scientific strategies are being tested. This means that the vast majority of the work that is put into the exam is going to be interpreting charts, diagrams, experiments, or other ways that display data. Data interpretation makes up a large portion of the test, because it is designed to determine how well a student uses provided data.

2) Take your time with graphs and charts, but do not spend excessive amounts of time on the passages. The Science section can be quite devious in its structure, because it almost models a Reading section, with a set of passages followed by the respective questions for each passage. Make sure that you spend your time effectively by focusing it on the questions rather than the passages, because a majority of the test is data interpretation that only requires a basic understanding of the text, anyways.

3) Pay attention to the type of passage. The passages in the Science section are broken down into multiple types, including paired passages that provide contrasting viewpoints, informational passages, experiment descriptions, and pure data passages. Each of these can have different levels of effectiveness for a student, so make sure that you choose the passage that most closely aligns with your capabilities first. Much like the Reading section, each of the questions are worth the same amount of points, so it makes sense to handle the types of passages that are mostly likely to go well for you first.

4) Answer every question. Time is extremely limited on this section, between having to go through passages and answer questions. Take the time to effectively answer the questions, but also understand that you only have a limited amount of time to answer the questions pertaining to each passage (most likely 5-6 minutes) to be able to work through the entire exam while still having time to look through and confirm your answers once at the end.